The Long Road Home
by Last Wind
Summary: "Because it was pain, but the kind she could handle." A series of stories set during book 4, may include multiple POV's. New Chapter- Home
1. Chapter 1

Fight

The stone smashed into her forearms, rock on bone, but she lessened the blow by bending it to pieces.

_'__Watch your form!'_

Korra let out a grunt and jumped back, avoiding the next speeding rock as it flew past and connected with the emerald wall behind. Her opponent swept into a smooth circle kick and pelted a flurry of rocks her way. One hit her shoulder, Korra lost her footing and stumbled backwards.

_'__Do it again. You must hold your stance, Korra!' _

The muscled brawler dropped low in a sweeping motion and Korra felt a wall of rock ram into her side. She fell but rolled swiftly back to her feet.

_'__Unacceptable, you are the Avatar. You need to master this.'_

Another rock she didn't see coming hit her square in the jaw. She stumbled backwards and stopped for a moment to wipe away a small trickle of blood on her chin.

_'__You are the Avatar.'_

If only her earth bending teachers could see her now, they would admonish her and question why they had even bothered spending so much time on someone who couldn't win a cage fight. Pathetic, that's what they would call her. That's what everyone in the crowd was calling her.

Even Korra.

She ducked as another strike flew over her head. For the briefest moment she thought of pro-bending practice; Bolin and Mako were better fighters than this woman, but Korra had been able to beat them every time. Why couldn't she win now?

_Because you are weak. Let go._

Korra shook her head furiously and shot two rocks at her opponent. Both missed and her frustration was greeted with another barrage of blows, she was knocked from her feet.

Standing was harder this time around. She felt every agonizing second lost as her limbs contorted in the reflexive patterns, as she urged them to do what she had trained them for, but they wouldn't listen. Still, she rose again, and met the brawler head on.

"Is that all you got?"

Korra knew she shouldn't have baited her, but something about the pain that followed was reassuring, comfortable.

It was pain, but the kind she could handle.

Then her opponent burst into the air and came swinging with a left hook. Korra lifted an arm to deflect it, but the blow hit the side of her head and she was sent flying, rolling, and crashing into the back wall.

Pain, she almost laughed.

Poison was pain, loss was pain, death was pain.

This was just a bit of rock throwing. This was not pain.

Korra tried to lift herself up again, but her arms burned. She felt them shudder beneath her weight and she gritted her teeth, attempting to remind herself of all the times she had managed to stand after worse hits, after bones had been broken, after she had thought she wouldn't move ever again. Hundreds of times she had been able to just get back up, because she was a natural born fighter—that's what they called her.

It was the only thing she seemed to be good at. At least up until now.

Korra was tired of fighting, but it was all she knew.

She fell and her head contacted mercilessly with the earth.

"We have a winner!"

And they roared, and cheered, and laughed as she struggled to rise. Korra ignored them, but her fingers dug into the ground and her heart beat fast in her chest.

The crowd dispersed but she didn't care. Her opponent said something, called her weak, but she didn't care. She had to grip the wall for support while her legs shook, but she didn't care. None of them knew who she was. Here, she was just a fighter, not the Avatar. She could lose just like anyone else and it wouldn't matter in the slightest.

What if her friends could see her now?

No, Korra dragged her feet out of the small arena, they would try to stop her. They would worry, question why she was acting so irrationally, why she was shirking on her duties to the world to fight for meager pay in a ring hidden somewhere in the slums of the earth kingdom. They would want to know why she had lied to her father, why she had abandoned them and chosen to disappear, alone.

Sometimes Korra wanted to know why too.

The manager was talking to her, but she was tired and wanted to leave.

"Yeah! You kind of look like that Avatar girl."

Not really, not anymore.

She hadn't seen that girl in years, at least not when she looked in the mirror. Back in the South Pole after she got a little better, she had tried to be like her, if only for her parents. Still, it didn't take long to realize something had shifted.

With time, she recognized the impossibility of simply sliding back into her old skin.

Of course, no one had understood, even if she had given them a chance too, she was certain they never would.

"I get that a lot."

"Whatever happened to her, anyway?"

She didn't stop to think, or wonder, because the answer was so simple she didn't even have to question it. Where was the bright eyed Avatar now? To everyone else, she was missing. But to Korra, she was gone.

And that girl had not left behind any letters for her friends or family to follow, and she never gave any warning or reassurance to the one person in the world who her loss would shatter most. The one person who would never understand what had gone wrong, why that girl was no longer a part of her, why their shared suffering had split them apart.

She had just disappeared, and Korra was lost, alone.

So she lowered her face and embraced the shadow of the hallway, like there was some kind of liberation in anonymity.

"I wouldn't know."

* * *

><p><strong>Note: Wanted to make a short piece about that end scene, because it was so heartbreaking but well told at the same time. Hope you enjoyed, comment if you have any thoughts or requests. Thanks! Might turn this into a bunch of short stories as the season progresses.<strong>


	2. Semblance

Semblance of a Past

**Hope you enjoy the story! Review to let me know what you think.**

It was two days before the prince's coronation, three days since they had left Republic City for the Earth Kingdom, but worst of all, almost a week, a whole week, since they had first heard Korra was missing.

Mako gritted his teeth and quickened his pace.

Six months, how had she been gone for that long? How had no one noticed?

"Slow down bro," Bolin said from a few steps behind. "We're not going to be late or anything."

The man beside him, one of Mako's coworkers on detail under prince Wu, grunted his agreement.

"You've got to relax, man," he said with a lazy grin. "We don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves here. You know, three officials rushing around in the slums like this, doesn't look good on the papers."

Oh, the fight.

Mako almost stopped in his tracks. For the past hour they had been walking he hadn't thought once of where they were headed. Now, not for the first time since he had heard the idea, he considered backing out and just going home, or at least returning to the small apartment Beifong had commissioned for him and the rest of the officers until the coronation.

"This is a stupid idea," he muttered. Sure, the underground bender fights weren't exactly illegal in this part of the Earth Kingdom, but in Republic City they were, and Mako was a cop.

The last thing he needed was for the Chief to get wind of any 'potentially risky' behaviors while they were supposed to be running security in a foreign nation.

"Oh, come on Mako! Everyone says this is the best entertainment in town," he ran up to his side, subtly putting some distance between the two brothers and their companion.

"Look, I know it's been a rough week," he started.

Rough? Mako frowned, for the first time in his life he wished he didn't have a job, and that he could just disappear to search out their missing friend. Sure, Tenzin and the Chief had sent practically an armada of a search party all across the world, but that didn't matter if he wasn't with them.

"But there's nothing we can do about it now," his brother said. A hand fell lightly on his shoulder, "We're going to have to be patient. It's okay to take a break, you know."

Mako sighed, he knew Bolin was right, but hearing it from someone who Mako had once said the same words to many times before felt different, but not altogether wrong. Honestly, he hadn't really had a chance to relax in what seemed to be years, and his new job protecting the snooty earth prince had just made his life almost insufferable. Now Korra was missing, old friends had been pushed apart, he was moving to Ba Sing Se, Bolin had joined the army.

Nothing was ever going to be the same again, and Mako just wanted to feel like maybe, it could.

He glanced at his brother, took in the broader shoulders, the confident look, the small metal insignia of his uniform. When had he grown up so much?

"How'd we get here, Bo?" he said.

"We walked?"

"That's not what I mean," he said.

Bolin's expression dropped a little, all humor dissipated, "I know, but we're here anyways."

"Right!" Mako held back a glare as the other man interrupted, "so we might as well enjoy it. Look, there's the place I was telling you about." He pointed across the street to a small hole in the wall.

Bolin lightly punched Mako's shoulder, "Just have some fun tonight, it'll be like watching a pro-bending match. We'll deal with everything else tomorrow."

Mako groaned but they dragged him in.

They bought their tickets just as the first match ended, and took their seats right before the second. Mako's coworker apparently knew someone in the middle back. So he was forced to shove and clamber his way through hundreds of tightly packed, sweaty bodies, until they finally found some seats with a good enough view of the ring.

Everyone stood, but Mako was towered over most of them, one benefit of gaining a few inches over the last few years, and only occasionally had to swivel around to get a better view. Bolin was talking to some people, they sounded excited, but Mako kept out of the conversation.

Only a few hours, he reminded himself, then it would all be over and he could get back to work. Maybe Asami would have some news for them, maybe a lead.

The first fight was brutal, and at times, Mako even felt uncomfortable watching as two men or women beat at each other over and over, neither one willing to kneel first. And if he fared badly, Bolin seemed to be an emotional wreck, standing on the edge of his seat as he shifted between tears and joy every time someone was knocked from their feet or rose again. Mako made a mental note to never allow his brother back in a place like this.

He might have been older, but to Mako, he was still just a kid.

By the third match, Mako had seen enough, far too much, and grabbed Bolin's arm.

"Come on, we're leaving," he said.

Bolin didn't seem to disagree, but Mako's coworker and his avid 'brawler' fan friends had other ideas.

"No man! You can't, you're gonna miss the best one," he pulled Bolin back to where he was before just as the announcer stepped into the ring.

"How many are there?" Mako said.

"Just this one," the man said. He was almost bouncing on his feet. How could this much violence be making him so excited? "But it's the best, trust me. They have the same fighter every night go up against the champ from the day's matches. She always loses, but it's one hell of a good show."

Mako tried to contain his annoyance. If he had to watch one more fighter break a bone, he would definitely be throwing up on that man.

He glanced towards the exit, there must have been over a hundred people blocking his way. By the time he managed to actually get out the fight would have been over anyways. So he resigned to watching one more, and glared into the cage-ring as the announcer introduced the competitors.

One man stepped into the ring, a large, broad chested piece of muscle and scar tissue. He circled the side facing Mako and his group and glared across the stone floor as another door opened and his opponent entered.

Mako sat down, content to wait out the rest of the match without having to look over a sea of heads.

And the match started, and the crowd roared. Bolin moved to get a better look, but then Mako watched as his brother pulled back in shock. He turned to Mako, eyes wide, mouth open but unable to speak.

"What?" Did someone die?

"Mako," he started. Then his words stopped, and he couldn't seem to form another.

So, with a sigh, Mako rose and started watching the fight again. He glanced back at his brother, what was so interesting about it?

There was the champion, the guy was pelting rocks in one way or another, and on the other side there was a young woman, thin to almost an extreme, slightly muscled, in earth nation garb, who was in the process of unsuccessfully attempting to dodge them. She had her back to him, and yelled just as a rock struck her shoulder.

Mako winced.

The crowd went crazy.

The girl got back up, took another hit, and then circled to the side, showing him the profile of her face.

Mako felt all the air leave his lungs.

He saw the short hair, the dark skin marred with bruises and the occasional cut, the determined glare, the clenched fists, the weak stance. He saw another rock smash into her chest, watched as she was pushed back into the wall, as she grunted in pain, as her arms shook but she lifted them again. He saw her take a step forward, taunt her opponent, pretend like the blows were nothing whatsoever. He saw her duck, attack, miss, trip… fall.

Then he was shoving and ramming his way through the crowd, just to get closer to the arena.

He saw her stand, saw her thin muscles flex as she pelted another rock at her opponent.

Mako practically jumped over one man in his way, ignored Bolin's cries from behind.

Then the champion roared like an animal and the smaller fighter took two simultaneous blows to her back and leg, and she dropped to the ground for the last time.

"Move!" He yelled, shoving a spectator over. Everyone clapped, stood, Mako's view of the arena was blocked. He heard the Champion saying something, but nothing came from the defeated fighter. Mako felt his movements grow frantic, he was still too far; too many people stood in his way. He needed to get in there, to stand within inches of her, to look into her eyes and see what color was held within.

He needed to know, to prove to himself that she wasn't here, that this couldn't, wouldn't be her.

But the match was over, and the crowd started to move away from the ring, and Mako was pushed with it. When finally, he reached the edge of the stands, she slowly began to rise, leaning a shoulder on the wall as she gripped her side. Her gaze glued to the floor like there was something so consuming about it, like there was no one around, just her.

He was desperate to get closer now, but she was starting to leave.

Just as she was to disappear behind the same doors from which she emerged, the beaten fighter lifted her gaze from the torn dirt at her feet and looked into the crowd. The lines of her mouth set in a practiced frown of disinterest.

And so Mako saw them; the cool blue of a water bender's eyes. Hers were bludgeoned into a dull grayish hue, but still retained a semblance of the same blue he had grown to know so well. Even many years later.

"Korra!"

He thought briefly that she had heard him, but then she listlessly tore her gaze away from the crowd and disappeared behind the double doors, gone to him.

The last he saw of her were those hunched shoulders, a fading form fueled on by only the last remaining threads of will.


	3. Answers

Answers

**So this story is probably going to loosely follow what happens in the season, with a few differences. Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think or would like to see.**

"And you are certain of what you saw?" Tenzin ran a hand over his forehead as he spoke; words deliberate, tested.

"I'm positive," Mako turned to Bolin in search of a vote of support. Compared to the ever composed Asami Sato who stood to his right he looked like a caged badger-mole.

"Well, it looked like her."

"That may be, but this doesn't sound like something she would do," Tenzin slowly stood and set about pacing the small room. "Korra would not disappear for this long, only to reappear in a place like this. It's simply not like her."

"I agree," Raiko said. Ever since the ceremony ended, the Republic City leaders had cramped in the hotel's conference room, trying to figure out a solution to what the President was already calling 'The Kuvira Problem'. They had been in the midst of one such discussion when Mako and Bolin interrupted them with the news.

"The Avatar has obligations. If this is true then it appears she had abandoned her duty."

Mako couldn't hold back a cringe. He didn't know why Korra had changed so drastically, but he knew she would never run from being the Avatar. She loved it, she loved bending. No, it had to be something else.

"Raiko, that's going too far," diplomatic as ever, Tenzin shook his head. "I'm sure there is a reason.

"And if there isn't? An entire nation is on the brink of falling under the control of a military dictatorship while the Avatar has elected to disappear on a sabbatical in earth kingdom slums. Even if she is found soon how can we trust that she will perform?"

"That's not up to us," Asami's soft, flowered voice pierced the cloud of doubt. Four heads turned to follow the sound. In all of one glance, Mako knew that his friend was already fed up with the speculation. The lines of her mouth pursed only slightly, but for a woman who could wear a mask like no one else, he knew what it meant.

She was pissed.

"We don't know where Korra is right now."

"Of course we do, I'm sure the White Lotus will find her at the fights tonight and retrieve her," Raiko crossed his arms.

Mako couldn't help feeling he was referring to some kind of pet; a dog that had been lost and needed to be returned to its leash.

"That's not what I mean," Asami continued. The only visible sign of her annoyance steadily disappeared as she pulled on the face he had seen her use so many times around Raiko and the other leaders. After a moment of thought, Asami turned to Mako and Bolin.

"I'm sorry, I should have mentioned it sooner," she started, "but Korra wrote me a while back. Just before she disappeared I think."

Mako frowned, Korra had never responded to any of his letters and the others had assured him of receiving the same silence. So he had passed it off as her needing space. Three years of space. He didn't know if he felt hurt, or simply relieved that she had reached out to someone.

Before anyone could ask further, Asami continued, "Korra said she was having hallucinations. I don't know the extent of it, but I don't think anyone else does either. Probably not even her parents."

"What do you mean?" Tenzin was not as practiced in masking his concern. "My mother told me she had recovered from nightmares within the first couple months. She assured me they were nothing. I saw Korra for myself. She looked better."

Asami slowly shook her head, "I don't know, but it's very possible she is not."

Raiko attempted to interrupt, but she lifted a hand and he fell silent.

"We should at least save the assumptions and accusations until after we find her. Korra always comes through and she will this time, just at her own pace."

"I agree, I'm sure we will have all our questions answered soon. Thank you Mako and Bolin, for bringing this to us."

Then the group dispersed, leaving behind only the fractured members of what was formerly known as Team Avatar. Mako glanced between his brother and Asami. They stood quietly together; a void filled sorely by the absence of one other.

"I'm not waiting until tonight to look."

"We know," Asami said.

"I have to get back to the train, Kuvira has ordered everyone to return by sundown." Bolin said. Mako could tell he was avoiding his eyes. He had almost forgotten what side his brother had chosen in all of this.

Without his uniform on, he looked just like he always had; a goofy, lovable little brother, not a practiced military man working for a dictator.

"When are you leaving?" Mako said. It was useless, trying to fight him.

"Soon. You'll let me know if Korra shows up?" Bolin said.

Mako didn't reply, Asami cut the silence and wrapped Bolin in a hug.

"Of course we will. Stay safe Bolin," she said with a small smile. She didn't want to fight either. Not when they had such little time left together.

He could feel the three of them spreading further. The strings which had held them together once were steadily being ripped apart. Worst of all, Mako knew they were doing it to themselves. They had chosen their sides, lost the only thing that could keep them in one place.

The one person who could keep all of them from drifting too far.

"Goodbye bro," Bolin said half-heartedly.

"Yeah, bye Bo'." Why couldn't he just bring himself to hug his own brother?

So Bolin left, and another string was cut.

"I guess you have some work to do too?" Mako said with a sigh.

"Tons, but it doesn't matter," Asami said. "I'm going with you. We can take Naga."

"Asami—," he started.

"Don't say it, everything is going to be alright. We'll find Korra and then we'll get Bolin back."

"He seems set on this," Mako said.

"You know him. He'll come around."

Mako nodded, and they began their search for the Avatar's polar bear dog. Most the walk was spent in silence, until Mako felt he couldn't contain it any longer.

"Korra never wrote me."

"I know."

"But she told you all this… why?"

Asami stopped walking, studied him for a moment before continuing, "She was afraid you wouldn't understand."

"Well, I don't."

"Mako, look—" she reached out to touch his arm but he brushed her off.

"No! I know she had changed, maybe she wants space, but this isn't fair," he said. "She lost the fight the other night, Asami. I watched how she moved and she lost to a _nobody_. The old Korra could beat anyone you put in front of her."

"Mako…"

"Don't say she just needs time, like Tenzin does. She is stronger than that. Korra has had three years to recover. Why hasn't she been able to come back?"

He stopped, before allowing himself to vent further. Asami simply stared at him, like he really didn't understand anything at all.

"Are you done?"

Mako felt he had been slapped in the face. Her mask was gone completely, he now faced the full force of Asami's irritation.

"I just mean, she's had plenty of time. She should be fine by now."

"Well, maybe she's not. That's her right," Asami said. Then she added, "You almost sound like Raiko."

He would have preferred being slapped.

"That's not what I meant."

"I know, Mako," Asami sighed. "But that's what she was afraid of. She didn't want this exact reaction. It makes everything seem… trivial. When it's not, far from it."

Mako turned away from his friend. He couldn't face her piercing gaze, "It's just… she's been dealing with this alone, for who knows how long."

"Yes."

"She didn't have to."

"No," Asami said quietly, "but it's our job to make sure she knows that. Not hers."

Mako could only sigh and continue walking. Asami trailed behind. From a distance he heard her mutter a few words at his back.

"We'll find her."


	4. Specter

Specter

**Here you go, hope you like. I wanted to make this longer but I don't have much free time. Thank you guys so much for reading and reviewing. I will be finishing up the story soon. **

Korra slumped into the side of a wall.

She wasn't sure how long it had been. Just that she had been walking for a while. Now it was close to nighttime.

From a distance she could see sparse rays of light ebb off the walls of the shaded alley, dancing colors of shifting hues that disappeared the further she moved. At some point she had lost sight of the light that she had been following all morning.

Chain raked over stone.

Footsteps echoed towards her from behind; bare feet padded on her trail. Korra heard the noises but didn't turn to meet them. She knew what followed; the specter, the shade, a nightmare… maybe.

And the sounds never left. Nor did _she._

So Korra told herself to ignore it, ignore whatever that thing was. She pretended not to see the occasional wisps of bright blue and tanned skin, the stinging glint of her apparition's chains, but most of all, the hardened gaze of the brilliant, piercing white eyes that watched her everywhere she went.

Those were not her eyes. Powerful, forceful and terrifying. That's what they were.

Korra slowly pushed away from the wall but doubled forward when her leg seized painfully. She gripped the spot that had taken the worst hit the night before and grit her teeth.

It was amazing, how much pain she had gotten used to living with. Somehow she managed to convince herself that this was fine; that she just needed to take a quick break before moving on. That if she fell and it hurt then the pain was just in her mind.

Except it wasn't.

The specter appeared to her right a few feet away. She didn't notice it at first, not until she looked up from the welt on her leg and their gaze met for the first time in days.

Those eyes. Was it even human?

"Go away!"

The penetrating gaze never faltered.

"Please," another spasm ran up her leg and she crumpled to the ground. She stared at it now, the specter, Korra couldn't find the strength to look away. Those eyes bore into her, formed the only light she could find in the rising shadows of the alleyway. The Avatar's light, Raava's light.

Once that same light protected. Now, it haunted.

"Please, just—just leave me alone."

Silence.

The specter took a step forward and Korra quickly shuffled back until her bare shoulders brushed against the chilled stone wall. She couldn't fight it again. Not since her last attempt the nightmare had almost killed her.

"You won't leave."

It wasn't a question because she knew it wouldn't answer.

_Then go ahead, just end this—whatever it is._

Maybe it had heard her, the thoughts she couldn't speak, because then it was moving. The figure's muscles tightened, the chain whipped out from around its wrist, eyebrows knit together in a determined fury and it approached.

And Korra couldn't speak.

She felt she was going to die. Briefly she wondered if that must have been what all this was for.

Was it time for the next Avatar? Maybe.

The chain whipped out and wrapped around her wrist. It tightened and she cried out, terrified by the sheer strength of the figure that stood before her.

No.

The nightmare pulled on the chain. Korra felt herself being yanked forward. She stumbled. Hands scraped on the ground.

No.

Her arms shook but Korra felt a heat rise in her chest. The figure was moving into a stance, maybe it intended to attack one last time.

But she couldn't allow that, couldn't let it… her, the Avatar, whatever she was—Korra wasn't ready.

So she pulled against the chain in an attempt to escape the figure that bore her form. After all, the specter had her face and her strength. She had everything except the eyes; the hatred inside them was not hers.

"Leave. Me. Alone!"

She shot a flame at it—at herself.

And miraculously, it vanished.

The sound of steps to her right made her jump, or at least cringe, at the thought of another attack.

"Korra?"

She blinked. It was too dark to see anything. Yet at any moment she expected the glowing pair of eyes to appear.

Instead, out of the darkness she saw a figure rush toward her; not a ghost, or a vision. Warm arms suddenly moved to embrace her and, before Korra could even be surprised, the newcomer was muttering hurried words. Swift assurances, whispers of relief.

Then another appeared; a tall man, he stood silent.

But Korra's heart was still racing, she couldn't focus on them—whoever they were—not when the vision could return.

"It's over, everything is okay," the owner of the soft voice whispered and the woman pulled her into a stronger hug.

"What—," Korra stammered. Her arms fell limp at her sides as the sound of the newcomer's voice and the sight of her aloof companion finally registered.

"A—Asami?" The woman pulled back and nodded quickly. Small tears dotted the corner of her eyes but she quickly wiped them away and turned to her companion.

"Don't just stand there, Mako," Asami said. "Come here!"

And suddenly Korra's heart no longer raced, it froze. She couldn't move her arms to return the embrace her friend never quite broke.

"Mako," she mouthed and Korra couldn't tell if he heard her or not but, with an unreadable expression, he finally moved to approach.

Every step was like a beat of her own heart, every moment he stayed silent… a pang of fear, guilt. She wasn't ready to face him, any of them, not yet. What would she say? How could she explain what had just happened? Would they believe her?

Then the terror vanished and his strong arms wrapped around her form. Comforting in silence.

Asami hugged her tightly, while Mako somehow held them both like an unyielding defense—fending off any sight of the alley's shadows. She felt his chin press lightly into her shoulder.

"It's over," his words washed over them in a final decree and Korra felt herself slowly relax into their arms.

She leaned forward, exhausted, but they held her up, kept her from sinking again.

He repeated the words and finally, with the deepest sigh, she let go.

So she fell into them.


	5. Home

Home

**Hey! So this is the final chapter for this story, and probably the last fic I will write for LOK. Thank you so much for reading and I hope that this helps anyone who needs some reunion hugs feels. I hope it suffices for now.**

Korra woke to the sound of muffled conversation.

Eyes creaked open, took in the strange room and bed which she now seemed to be sleeping in, until her eyes fell on the door opposite where she lay. A few of the voices she recognized, some she didn't. Korra sighed and swung her legs out from under the neatly tucked covers and proceeded to lightly pad her way across the room to the door.

Her hand stopped just as it brushed the cool metal knob and she leaned her forehead against the doorframe in an effort to control the sound of her heart pumping in her ears.

Another voice, an older man, one she hadn't seen in months. Her hand slowly turned the handle.

Then it was open. Light shone through from the new room.

"Korra," a handful of voices said in unison. She couldn't tell them apart, not that it mattered. Suddenly there were six little arms wrapped around her waist, and Korra felt herself hugging back. Tenzin's children laughed and Ikki—who was somehow a good few inches taller—held the tightest.

"We missed you so much," the youngest girl said quickly, and Korra could only lean forward and strengthen the embrace—the only way she knew how to repay them for three years lost.

The kids were older, she had missed so much.

"Ikki is right. We have missed you." Korra glanced up to see Tenzin standing only a few feet away. Beside him stood Lin and Su Beifong, a small man of little stature whom she didn't recognize, and President Raiko. Then, just behind them stood the ones she suspected were responsible for this; Asami had her hands clasped together, a sad but relieved smile on her face, Mako was to her right, aloof but present, and Bolin… well.

"KOOOOORRRAAAAAAAA!" Then the lovable earth bender rushed forward and wrapped her—alongside with the three children—into a giant bear hug.

And she laughed, and they laughed.

New arms came to join in. Asami was first; she gently pulled hers around Korra and Bolin's shoulders and smiled kindly when Korra looked to her. Mako was next, but the one whose presence she felt most.

And she saw their faces, took in the changes. They had all grown, like the kids. Korra realized she had missed out on her friend's lives too.

When the hug finally dispersed, everyone made a small path for the adults. Suyin embraced her without hesitation, held her like she was her own daughter, like it was one of her own who had been lost and found again. Then it was Tenzin, and he held her like he knew what it had cost to come this far, like he had never once blamed her for abandoning the world to figure things out on her own, like he was simply relieved to see his student again. He held her until she found the strength to return the embrace, to accept the proffered love, the proffered forgiveness.

Then it was Lin, and miraculously, albeit a little stiffly, the great Chief of Police managed to pull the young Avatar into a hug. She retreated just as quickly, but Korra thought she saw the slightest hint of a smile on the stern lines of her face.

"Glad you're back, kid," she said. Korra smiled but still couldn't respond to the unrelenting emotion of the room.

"Where are we?" she said, choosing to focus on the sudden change in scenery. This certainly wasn't an alley in the middle of the Earth Kingdom.

"We're in a hotel," she turned to meet Mako. "You passed out so we had Naga take you here." He smiled a little, "It was difficult trying to keep her still. She wanted to just run off with you and disappear."

Korra couldn't contain the smile at the thought. Naga—at least she hadn't changed.

She was about to respond when the doors opposite the room swung open and two figures entered.

"Korra?" her heart leapt with joy at the sight—the mere image of her parents—but she involuntarily took a step back, as if struck by the thought they would be angry with her. Her father's face twisted into an indiscernible expression but he rushed forward instead. He quickly reached out to hold her at arm's length.

"You look so different," he muttered. Korra spotted a few grey hairs at his temple, had she caused that?

Still she couldn't reply, and Senna took Tonraq's place. Wordlessly, the one whom she had learned to expect for love and comfort, pulled her in again. She held her like an anchor; arms to finally center her, keep her from drifting away. Korra felt something fill the void in her chest, paint the darkest colors with a brighter hue, and then, for the first time in months, Korra let slip a tear.

Then another.

Her father's arms wrapped around the reunited family.

And another.

She heard laughter, relief. From a distance, Tenzin embraced his own wife and children by his side, like they too were the ones reunited after too long. Su slung an arm happily on Lin's shoulder, Bolin had his arms draped over Asami and Mako as they looked on the scene.

But at the center, the tears fell unnoticed to all but her parents.

And Korra finally decided she wanted that anchor—that the time of drifting was over.


End file.
